Matchday 4:

A day of relative snoozers, yet the first day I was really able to sit and watch all of the matches.

The first half of Denmark – Holland was tepid, but Holland finally came to life in the second half. The Danes seemed content to play for a nil-nil, but that was dashed with the own goal. I expected a lot more from Denmark in this match and was quite disappointed.

Without Robben, Holland looked OK. With him, I expect them to be a bit more explosive. With Elia exploding onto the scene, I can’t see Ryan Babbel getting off the bench this tournament.

Cameroon-Japan was just as much a snoozer as the morning match. Cameroon were simply shocking, what a poor performance.

Eto’o out wide was poor tactics. While he plays there for Inter, he must be central for Cameroon as he’s the star. He had one moment of brilliance from the wing, but he was quite reserved.

Home continent support looked a bit tapered, but it’s Bloem so it doesn’t surprise me. That’s Afrikaner heartland, so no real pan-Africanism support there.

Le Guen really made a mess of his tactics in this match and failed to inspire. Taking out Kameni was a blunder, as he’s probably the top keeper on the African continent and his replacement failed to impress. I don’t think he made a clean catch the entire match.

Failing to start Alex Song or to insert him once they were uninspiring was also a major mistake.

Three major mistakes by Le Guen, which is quite surprising to me personally as he’s a great manager and had done wonders with Cameroon in qualifying.

Keep your ears open for some behind the scenes drama, something must be going on in the Cameroon camp that we aren’t hearing about.

How do I see Group E playing out? I see Cameroon beating Denmark, Denmark beating Japan and everyone losing to the Dutch. With everyone at 3 points in the 2nd spot, look for GD to be the decider. I just can’t see Cameroon going home without a win, so disappointing.

Italy-Paraguay was the best match of the day.

I hate to say it, but I’m not sure Fabio Cannavaro can cut it at the international level anymore. I also think that match was screaming for a more lively forward up top by the name of Rossi.

Takeaway from Day 4: Holland is my pick to be a finalist. Watch out for Elia, he is an absolute star in the making. Italy will not repeat.